The Oregon Files: The Journey Begins

I've been a bit behind in life updates a bit.

Back at the end of April the Mrs. and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. We decided that it had been a bit since we went anywhere for our anniversary and we should get out of town. This year we chose the hotel property McMenamin's Grand Lodge in Forest Grove, Oregon.

Before we move onto the destination, lets start with the journey. After all every trip begins with a journey. Through some fortuitous good standing with my father in law, last year we were given an offer to use his new car for a weekend get away. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! It's not a new car, but new to him.

Here is why I couldn't believe the offer that was being extended to us..................................

This is my father in laws car, the 2001 Porsche Boxster S. This photo was taken on Highway 47. As  you can see it's a two lane logging road that twists and turns for roughly 16 miles.

*grinning ear to ear*

The highest speed I saw posted for any given turn on this highway was 35 mph. I didn't take a turn on this highway at anything less than 45 mph. True to form, this one handles like it's on rails just as it should.

Here's the Paisley digging the ride. I was pretty surprised that not once during the trip did she comment on my driving. Maybe it was the car. Usually she is working her passenger side equipped brake pedal.

The 2001 S variant has the larger 3.2 litre, water-cooled flat 6 known as the M96. The M96 is the first completely water cooled engine used in a production non-front engined Porsche. This model has a 6 speed manual transmission, four wheel ABS disc brakes and produces 249 hp and does 0-60 in 5.9 seconds.

We only had the top up when it was parked overnite and the one time that there was a brief downpour for 10  minutes. Luggage was a bit of an issue. The two big suitcases and the laptop were stowed in the front trunk and the rear trunk had some room for anything that we picked up along the way.

After the trunk, service is a big issue with this car for me. You can check the oil and the coolant from the rear trunk and you can top off the oil and coolant from the rear trunk, but that's about it. All other service work has to be done from under the car on a lift.

The over all look and styling of the car is very appealing to the eye. The interior is comfortable, but I actually have more leg room in my 944 and it's a bonus that my seats can recline. The cabin storage is pretty non exsistent. There are pockets in each door and a very shallow cubby in the centre console and a small parcel shelf behind the seats that is easy to reach if you're a contortionist.

As I stated earlier this model as any other Porsche, handles like it's on rails and the punch behind it is pretty good. That little beast just kept pushing up the passes and I still didn't get to really get it stretched out enough to get it into 6th. The best I got (in state) was up to 105. That speed in that car was very smooth.

There are more pros than cons to this car. Not my first choice mind you, but it's a very good candidate for another road trip. I still dream of a 1986 911 Targa, with the deep dish Fuchs wheels in black.

Tomorrow, the destination.